Bel Paese, meaning ‘beautiful country’ in Italian, is a semi-soft cheese from the Lombardy region. It was formulated by Egidio Galbani in 1906 who wanted to invent a product that would compete with French Alpine cheeses. The name is derived from a book by Abbot Antonio Stoppani "Il Bel Paese", published in 1873.

The cheese has a milky aroma infused with a mild buttery flavour. The taste can be compared with Mozzarella and St. Paulin. The pale yellow cheese may occasionally be riddled with “eyes”. The cheese is hard to spread but soft enough to slice. It is wrapped in a waxed, foil or plastic rind.

Bel Paese takes 6 to 8 weeks to mature and comes in several different sizes from small buttons to large 5lb wheels. An original Bel Paese can be identified by a map of Italy and a picture of Antonio Stoppani on the label of the cheese. The American version has a map of United States on the label.

The Italian cheese goes well with fruits like apples, pears and figs. As it has good melting capacity, it is often used in casseroles, hot Panini, focaccio or on a pizza. It can be eaten with fruity wines, such as dry red or white.

Testun Occelli al Barolo is an ancient Italian mountain cheese made from a mix of sheep’s and goats’ milk. This hard cheese is packed in “grape must” resulting from the production of Barolo wine, infusing the cheese with an amazing, decadent, vinous flavour.

The origin of the cheese in Italian folklore makes a great story for the dinner table. The legend says the cheese was originally produced by accident, after it was concealed in a wine barrel and then forgotten during the time when hiding food was a necessity to avoid it being stolen. When the cheese was rediscovered the intense winey flavour proved a surprising success.

Producer Beppino Occelli has been farming since 1976. He has a special relationship with the land and his animals. His story is rooted in his profound love for the land of his birth – the Langhe and the Alps – from which his creations and personal interpretations of traditional products are derived. His flocks of sheep and herds of goats freely roam the valleys of Cuneo, as far as the pastures of Castelmagno and Valgrana, reaching Valcasotto where the best wheels of great mountain cheeses are finally left to cure and ripen in the old aging cellars.

Cusie is the invention of Beppino Occelli and considered to be one of his “Grand Cheeses”. Its whimsical name translates from the local dialect as “that which there is” and refers to the fact that Cusie makes use of whatever milk in available. Though always made with cows milk, either sheep or goat is blended in and may change from batch to batch. Regardless, the cheese is bold and worthy of its place among Occelli’s esteemed cheeses. Taking advantage of the lush Piemontese meadows, Cusie is made form the milk of animals that are left free to pasture in summer. It is a hard cheese that is aged from 18 to 24 months. While delicious on its own, Occelli shows his innovation and creativity by coating the forms in whiskey-soaked barley. While adding a visual and textural appeal, the coating imparts an intense smoky sweetness making it the perfect finish to an extravagant meal.

Beautiful , long matured pure Goats milk cheese called Cravot produced high in the Appenine mountains from local Goats milk. Semi soft cheese with a soft delicate flavor. Golden and creamy in color , a real artisan produced cheese that is perfect for the cheese board 

Crema di Roma is a pure sheep's milk cheese produced in the Lazio region of Italy. The name literally means the "cream of Rome" and was given this name by Guiseppe Lopez, one of the finest producers of Pecorino Romano, for its light texture and sweet flavor. It is a younger cheese than Pecorino Romano and as a result is lighter and softer on the palate, making it more suitable as a table cheese than as an ingredient for a dish. In addition to its traditional form, it also has three other varieties:

1) With Black Pepper
2) With Red Pepper
3) With Truffles

Toma Piemontese is a PDO cheese made in the Piedmont region of Italy from pasteurised cow’s milk. The aroma, flavour, pate and texture of Toma Piemontese vary depending whether it has been produced with whole fat milk, or if it is a semi-fat version with skimmed milk. In the first case, the pate is straw yellow with evenly distributed “eyes”, sweet, pleasant flavour and a delicate fragrance. The rind is elastic and smooth and appears deep straw-yellow to reddish brown based on the seasoning. If the cheese has been made from skimmed milk, it has a wrinkly and not elastic rind, straw white pate and tiny eyes and an intense flavour that varies with seasoning.

Whole fat Toma goes well with Italian dishes such as frittata, gnocchi, and risotto and pasta fillings. Whereas, semi fat Toma tastes best with bread, jam, honey, nuts and baked with potatoes, quiches and fondue. Strong red wines such as Dolcetto, Carema and Barolo go well with aged tomas while light white wines make a better paring with young tomas.

Meaning "sweet" in Italian, Gorgonzola "Dolce" DOP is a soft, blue, buttery cheese made with uncooked cow's whole milk. The cheese took its name from a small town in Lombardy near Milan, where it said to have been born in the 12th century. It has a white or pale yellow, buttery and melty paste speckled with a homogeneous distribution of blue coloured veins. The rind is compact, rough, hard and grey/pinkish in colour but not edible. Flavours are not very assertive but sweet, mild with notes of sour cream and lactic tang. It takes a minimum of 50 days ageing to let Gorgonzola demonstrate its unique characteristics.  The cheese pairs well with a Tuscan Vin Santo and Champagne.

Gorgonzola Dolce DOP from Arrigoni Battista Spa recently won Super Gold at the 2014 World Cheese Awards and was also judged as one of the world’s 62 best cheeses. 

Gorgonzola Dolce originates in the North of Italy in the provinces of Lombardia and Peimonte. It is originally from the mountains and hills but now made in the lowlands along the Po River valley. Yes, Gorgonzola is a real place!

Until early in the last century it was known as “strachinno verde”, a cheese made from the milk of cattle tired after their long spring and autumn treks to and from the Alpine pastures. This moister version is of a more recent history but is today about 80% of the market for all Gorgonzola cheese.

Gorgonzola Dolce has a thin fragile rind, the paste is white to pale yellow with greenish-blue veins, the texture is quite creamy -- moister than Stilton and more buttery than Roquefort. This is all the result of a higher moisture content and larger curd size. It's blue veining is subtle and feathery, with a softer, easier flavor. It is glistening and creamy making it a very easy cheese to love. What else would you expect from a cheese named "Dolce".

It is often believed that blue mold is “injected” into the cheese, but in actuality, it is the introduction of air into the cheese during the aging process that causes the blue veining to develop. Long needles are inserted into the cheeses at a specific point in the aging process, which triggers the growth of blue mold.

This cheese only needs to age for 3 months as opposed to its drier version which ages for 6 months and is much stronger and pungent.

Gorgonzola "Piccante" DOP is a soft, sharp, aged blue cheese made with full fat, pasteurised, cow's milk. The cheese took its name from a small town in Lombardy near Milan, where it said to have been born in the 12th century. It has a white or pale yellow compact, crumbly paste speckled with a homogeneous distribution of bluish-green marbling. The rind is compact, rough, hard and grey in colour and usually comes covered in a tin foil. Flavours are strong, intense and sharp with a pungent, spicy bite coming early on. It takes a minimum of 80 days ageing to let Gorgonzola demonstrate its unique characteristics.  The cheese pairs well with a full bodied, aged, red wines, sweet and liqueur wines and rum.

Taleggio is a smear-ripened Italian cheese named after the caves of Val Taleggio. It’s one of the oldest soft cheeses produced in every autumn and winter. During cheese making, the acidic milk is brought to the lab, and kept on the wood shelves in the chambers as well in caves according to tradition. In order to prevent it from mold infestation, the cheese is washed with seawater once a week. The maturation takes 6 - 10 weeks forming a thin crust.

This cheese has been granted a PDO designation and contains 48% fat. The cheese has a strong smell, but its taste is relatively mild with an unusual fruity tang. To make it brighter and moderate, factories add spices, raisins, nuts and some lemons to it. When grated on salads such as radicchio and rucola, it tastes like a wonder, as well melts well. Taleggio can be served with Italian Nebbiolo wines, and also a wide range of Reds and Whites.

Bitto cheese is a Protected Designation of Origin product since 1st July 1996, and the Regulation restricts the production only for the pastures of the Bitto Valley, in the provinces of Sondrio, Bergamo and Lecco.

All the wheels of Bitto are made with cow’s milk from the Alpine-brown breed, at 1400-2400 meters high. The Regulation allows using a small amount of goat’s milk (10-20%) in order to make cheese more intense and tasteful. Manufacturers of the Consortium use only milk from goats Orobica or from Valgerola.

The production period of Bitto starts in June and lasts until half/end of September, high altitude pastures inside mountain huts and “calèc”, typical structures of those lands. “Calècs” are rudimental stone built rooms, used to lodge animals at night, and in which there are some copper cauldron to prepare cheese.

Young Bitto has a soft texture with small holes and white small spots, yellow and thin rind and a delicate and gentle scent. The color of the internal part, if it is low seasoned, is milk white or yellowish, while the taste is sweet and delicate. After 1 year of maturation, the texture becomes more hard and crumbly, the color becomes straw yellow, the taste strong and slightly spicy. After 2 years, the scent is more accentuated and the internal, hard part is ideal to be grated in flakes.

The inimitable taste of Bitto has no equals in Valtellina and in the rest of Italy, and has some affinities with other cheeses, as Casera or Fontina, despite its taste is unmistakable. The cost varies depending on the seasoning.

After buying it, you should conserve it in the fridge, wrapped into a tinfoil or a cloth.

Mascarpone is an Italian cheese from the Lombardy region, made by curdling milk cream with citric acid or acetic acid. It is a thick, double or triple cream, soft cheese with a very high fat content ranging from 60% to 75%. The resulting rich butterfat content makes the cheese an essential ingredient in Italian recipes like Tiramisu and cheesecakes.

The texture of Mascarpone ranges from smooth, creamy to buttery, depending on how it is processed during cheesemaking. The concise portrayal of Mascarpone really is just thickened cream that is on its way to becoming butter. Making the cheese is so simple that many people easily make their own Mascarpone at home.

Mascarpone is used in both sweet and savory dishes. It is added to enhance the flavour of the dish without overwhelming the original taste. The cheese tastes best with anchovies, mustard and spices, or mixed with cocoa or coffee. Tiramisu, a layered dish with espresso, brandy, chocolate and Mascarpone has brought the cheese to the forefront of Italian cooking. Another possible use of Mascarpone is to thicken puddings and dessert creams. It is also popular as a standalone dessert served with fruit or syrup.

Whether you buy Mascarpone or make it at home, it needs to be consumed within a few days or it can go bad. 

Raschera is the name of an alpine hut in the municipality of Magliano Alpi in the province of Cuneo. Raschera cheese is normally square because, in the past, its shape made it easier to be stacked in the saddle-packs of the mules used to carry it down to the valley. As happens with another Piedmont cheese, Sora, the external form bears the marks of the canvas used to wring it after it has curdled. The alpine hut cheeses can be distinguished by the letter ‘a’ inserted in the ‘r’ of the brand.

Organoleptic characteristics

Aspect and texture:compact, elastic, ivory or yellow paste with widespread, small holes

Taste:intense with traces of goat and sheep, ‘stings’ in the mouth when ripened

Serving suggestions:Red wines and beers. Grape and green tomato preserve. Wholemeal bread

Rossini Blue, from the Val Taleggio region of Italy (better known, of course, for Taleggio). This blue is wrapped in grape leaves and washed with red wine during the aging process, leading to its distinctive coat of leaves over a deep purple rind. 

This is a sweet and buttery blue with a distinctive musky, fruity flavor, followed by a peppery blue finish. 

A cheese made from pasteurised cow's milk. Having straw-colour inside and closed textured. After the period of six months this cheese develops light brown rind and closed consistency. The name is derived from Alta Badia Valley of Dolomite Mountains. It tastes great with red and fruity wines. It is also served in local dishes by melting it or as a table cheese.

The Lagrein wine flavored cheese is produced with the pure pasteurized mountain milk in the Alto Adige Region in northern Italy. Made according to the traditional methods handed down through generations, it is characterized by irregular cracks and cured with the Lagrein wine. The cheese has a creamy and elastic texture with a nutty flavor and accent flavors of wine and spice.

Stelvio is a cow’s milk cheese from the Stelvio Valley in the Alto Adige region of Northern Italy. This cheese has been made for hundreds of years but only recognized and called Stelvio in 1914. In the early 1900’s this cheese was only produced for local consumption but has been gaining popularity over the years. In 2003, it was recognized as a DOC cheese. The area where it is produced is also a German speaking region and so the cheese also carries the name Stilfser. The cheese is aged for approximately 60 days, developing a semi-soft texture that is elastic. It has a reddish colored rind, and ivory colored pate with an uneven scattering of holes. Its flavor is rich and buttery with an assertive aroma. This cheese can also melt well without jeopardizing its flavor or aroma.

Dolomitico is a semi-hard blue cheese prepared with pasteurized cow's milk. It is aged for a minimum of 50 days during which the wheels are washed in both barley malt and double malt beer from Italy’s Dolomite region. The beer wash gives the cheese a dark brown rind beneath which lies a dense, crumbly paste with blue veins. Flavours are intense and persistent with toasty notes. Pair it with a light beer or a stout.

Brenta is a semi-hard or hard cheese with yellow paste with occasional holes. The milk is used for this wonderful cheese is collected locally from the Italian Alps where the variety of grass is unique, imparting a particular flavor that is sweet, full-bodied and herbaceous.

The milk is used for this wonderful cheese is collected locally from the Italian Alps where the variety of grass is unique, imparting a particular flavor that is sweet, full-bodied, and herbaceous, but not overpowering or heavy, evoking the taste of fresh milk! Aged (stagionato) for a minimum of six months! Great served with either reds or white wines; Merlot, young Valpolicella, Prosecco or Pinot Grigio.

This sheep’s milk cheese is aged in a clay jar filled with olive branches. Its soft, delicate flavor has just a hint of earthiness from the branches. The cheese has a slightly irregular shape, adding to its rustic charm. 

Romano is a hard cheese of Italian origin prepared predominantly with cow's milk or sheep's milk or goat's milk or mixtures of two or all of these. Made since the 1st century B.C., there are several types of Romano cheese. Determined by the type of milk used, name of Romano cheeses may be preceded by the word Vaccino (cow’s milk), Pecorino (sheep’s milk) or Caprino (goat’s milk). The most famous example of Romano cheese is Pecorino Romano, an exclusive Italian cheese with DOP designation from the Italian government.  

One of the most popular Italian cheeses, Romano cheese is made from pasteurised or unpasteurised milk using animal, plant, or microbial rennet. It has a grainy texture, a hard and brittle rind and grates easily. The curing of Romano takes not less than 5 months and longer if it is planned for grating.

Every Romano cheese has its own peculiarities and shows different shades in texture, flavour and cooking uses. While Pecorino Romano, made from sheep’s milk, is sharp and quite tangy the second type of Romano cheese, Caprino Romano made from goat’s milk has an extremely sharp taste. The third variety made from cow’s milk, Vacchino Romano, is very mild in flavour.

Romano cheese works excellent as a table cheese. It can be grated over pasta, soups and salad or shaved onto cooked dishes and cream sauces. Hard cheeses like Romano best pair with fruity wines like Riesling and Prosecco.

Monteo is a semi firm cheese produced by La Casearia creamery in the Veneto region of Italy. It is made using cow's milk sourced from farms in the Veneto hills. The cheese takes its name from Montello, a hilly area in the province of Treviso, where La Casearia Carpenedo is located.

Monteo has a pale yellow paste with 'eyes' of dissimilar shapes and sizes. It smells of fresh milk with lingering notes of butter and sharp milky aftertaste. Pair it with a Sauvignon Blanc.

Piave Vecchio (or Piave Stravecchio) is an Italian cow's milk cheese named after a river by the same name. It is DOP protected and the only authentic Piave Vecchio is produced in the Dolomites area of Belluno province of Veneto. The Vecchio or matured variety of Piave is offered beyond 180 days of aging and comes with a blue label.

Piave is an Italian cow's milk cheese named after a river by the same name. It is DOP protected and the only authentic Piave is produced in the Dolomites area of Belluno province of Veneto. Also called, Parmesan's Cousin due to apparent similarities in flavour, Piave is a hard, cooked curd cheese sold at five different maturation periods. As a thumb's rule, Piave is dense in texture without any open holes. 

Toma is one of the most famous Italian cheeses. Its name is derived from the process of cheese making. 'Toma' actually means 'cheese made by the farmer himself'!

It is produced primarily in Aosta Valleys and Piedmont regions of Northern Italy. Famous as the region's specialties, this soft or semi-hard cheese is made from Italian cow's milk.

Closely related to the French tome, Toma comes in variety of types. Every type is usually named after the region and the place where it is made. Toma Piemontese variety, which has PDO status (Protected Designation of Origin) under EU, comes from Piedmont legislation while Toma di Gressoney, which is recognized as ‘Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale’, comes from Gressoney Valley.

When grilled and served with melets, burgers, sauces and casseroles, the cheese tastes best. It also goes well with Peaches, honey, fruit compotes, Fig jam, Toasted nuts, Balsamic syrup, and Sautéed greens.

Mascarpone Torta is a soft cow’s milk cheese layered with pinenuts and basil pesto. Produced by adding citric acid to the cream. It is a velvety creamy cheese with a fat content of 70-75%. This pale blond coloured cheese has a soft texture and sweet taste.

Mascarpone Torta is a main ingredient of famous italian dessert such as tiramisu. It goes well with Ruster Ausbruch.

Caciotta al Tartufo is an Italian semi-soft cheese infused with black truffle shavings. It is made using a mix of pasteurised cow's and sheep's milk in the Umbria region of Italy. This exotic cheese is matured for one month during which the truffle and milk combination play a big role in developing the vibrant tangy flavour. Its paste is mild and gentle with a rind dotted with speckles of truffle. The earthy flavours of Caciotta al Tartufo make a good pairing with dry whites or sharp and strong wines such as Merlot.

Piave Vecchio (or Piave Stravecchio) is an Italian cow's milk cheese named after a river by the same name. It is DOP protected and the only authentic Piave Vecchio is produced in the Dolomites area of Belluno province of Veneto. The Vecchio or matured variety of Piave is offered beyond 180 days of aging and comes with a blue label. It is a flaky hard, grainy cheese with a dense texture and no holes. The flavour is intense sweet with a tropical fruity flavour underlined by an almondy bitterness. The hard pate of the cheese is light golden in colour while the rind is smooth, even, intense ochre colour. All Piave’s are aged in temperature and humidity controlled cellars where they are regularly turned, brushed and scraped. Piave Vecchio tastes great when grated on salads or eaten right off the wheel.

Trugole is a cow’s, milk semi-soft cheese from the Piedmont region in Italy.  Its most closely resembles Asiago Fresco in texture, appearance, and flavor. The milk sourced comes from cows that graze in the foothills of the Alps where the foliage is rich. The name “Trugole” comes from the name of a particular pasture that these cows graze on. Every day, for sixty days, the cheeses are turned and rubbed with water and salt to retain its soft and elastic interior. The pate is straw colored with small, scattered eye formation and the flavor is mild, glassy, and slightly tangy. 

This small blue-veined cow’s milk cheese with a piquant flavor has been aged for about 90 days and lthen cured 3 more months in Passito grape must. A unique product by the creative genius of CasArrigoni. 
It upholds the finest Lombardy dairy traditions and contains the fragrance and flavors of dried grape skins/must. This small blue-veined cow’s milk cheese with a piquant flavor has been aged for about 90 days and lthen cured 3 more months in Passito grape must. Its piquantness is softened by a mild and pleasant taste, is enhanced with hints of apricot and almonds, a bold combination that gives the product the balanced flavors and fragrances that make it unique. The cheese has a moist rind & a straw-yellow paste with green veins moistened with drops of Passito wine that have infiltrated during the aging process. Superb when enjoyed with chestnut honey, sour orange or fig preserves!

Roccolo is a holy trinity cheese. It is soft and firm and crumbly all in one. It tastes crazily varied from rind to center. It smells a little different in spots. In other words, its three distinct layers offer a cheese lover three cheeses for, well, …. more than a fraction of the price of a block of colby, but you get more than just orange and yellow cheese that tastes nearly the same no matter the hue.

Roccolo comes from Lombardy, Italy. Made by cheesemaking enterprise Arrigoni Valtaleggio, a large family company that helped to spearhead Tallegio imports, Roccolo is a a natural rind cow’s milk cheese whose name translates to “bird snare.” The cheese’s rind echos the hue of the local bird hunter’s stone hut they used to set camp in in earlier times.

After being brined in a salt water bath, Roccolo is set to age on pine boards and flipped and rubbed daily with a little extra salt water brine to bring out earthy, B.linen bacteria like those found in other washed rinds.

Yet pick up a slice of Roccolo and give it a good sniff, and you’ll only find the scent somewhat similiar to other semi-soft washed rinds. Rather than having a strong, sweetly blaring scent, Roccolo has an earthier scent like a mushroom that’s been foraged after a weeks of rain, and maybe dropped in a little dirt before being put in the straw mushroom basket.

Its taste is quite distinct too. It ranges from buttermilk to butter to mushrooms, to oysters to salty beef fat. The center is a little fresher tasting, and the further you get towards the brown, moldy rind, the funkier it gets.

The most interior part of the paste is crumbly and off-white. The layer beyond is smooth and the hue of that manilla folder a teacher holds in elementary school when presenting test scores to parents on Parent-Teacher night. The outside is brown with white and grey mold and an occasional yellow streak. I eat the rind, mold and all.

Fresh pecorino cheese, as caciotta cheese it has a mild paste. Made with pasteurized sheep milk, rennet, enzymes, and salt. It has a delicate flavour that made it ideal as table cheese. Even made with added of pepper, black pepper or truffle.

Description coming soon

Perlagrigia sotto cenere is a soft compact cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk. Silvers of black truffle are integrated into the paste of the cheese before pressing. After a brief aging period, the wheels are rubbed with a particular mix of spices and natural ash from beech. Flavours are aromatic, slightly spicy with sharp truffle flavour.

As the name suggests, Prima Fresco is a fresh sheep's milk cheese aged for less than a week and available in 4-8 oz crottins or discs. This farmstead cheese has a snow white interior with a delicate and tangy taste and a spreadable, fluffy texture. The sweetness of sheep’s milk and light saltiness pairs well with sweet or savoury dishes. It is certified humane by the Animal Welfare Institute.

Ubriaco di Raboso is an Italian semi-hard cheese prepared with either pasteurized or raw cow's milk. It is a pressed, uncooked cheese with a flavoured rind that is washed in Raboso IGT wine and marc for several weeks following the first six months of aging. It has a gentle yet full-bodied pale yellow paste with small holes, enveloped by a ruby red rind with a pleasant winey aftertaste.

Enjoy the cheese with a Cabernet, a Raboso Piave, a Sauvignon Blanc or an Incrocio Manzoni. The cheese has won many awards; the most notable ones being second place winner at the competition Caseus Veneti 2013 and third place winner at the competition Alma Caseus 2014.

Caciocavallo, which means "cheese on horseback", gets its name from the manner in which the cheese is always tied together in a rope and dangled over a wooden board to drain and age. An Italian type of pasta filata cheese made out of sheep's or cow's milk, it is produced throughout Southern Italy and the Balkans.

The history of Caciocavallo goes back to 500 BC when Hippocrates first mentioned the cleverness of the Greeks in making it. Cheeses similar to Caciocavallo are common all over the Balkans and Southern Italy. In fact, Ragusano DOP from Sicily had to drop the name Caciocavallo Ragusano to achieve the DOP label.

Continuous exposure to humidity in the caves and aging develops sharp, spicy flavours in Caciocavallo. With persistent aging, the cheese picks up intense, earthy undertones and fruity aromas. Along the way, it turns from a milky white to a darker yellow in colour and becomes more salty. The result is a cheese with profound tasting notes and perfect accompaniment to a glass of Primitivo red wine.

Canestrato di Moliterno is an Italian, hard, pecorino cheese made from sheep and goat milk in the commune of Moliterno. The name comes from the Latin word “mulcternum” which means a place where animals are milked and coagulated. The PGI protection requires that the cheese be made with between 70% and 90% full ewe's milk and between 10% and 30% full goat's milk.

The cheese needs at least 60 days of ripening after which it is sold in cylindrical shapes. Depending on age of the cheese, rind colour can vary from yellow in “primitivo” (early produce) to straw-coloured in “stagionato” (aged) and extra versions. On cutting, a white or light straw yellow Canestrato slice exhibits a sweet and delicate flavour efficacy, which intensifies with aging. An aged cheese will develop an intense and spicy flavour whilst the rind colour could be almost black due to a carbon soot water, vinegar and olive oil treatment.  The cheese contains a minimum of 30% fat. Due to its hard texture, it has a good reputation as a table cheese and pairs well with fresh, raw vegetables and pears. It can also be grated on pasta and soups. Wines such as Greco di Tufo, Falanghina, Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio and Aglianico make a perfect match with the cheese. 

Bianco Sottobosco is truly a special Italian cheese that highlights two of Piemonte'sfavorite traditions: artisanal cheesemaking and truffles. In the north of Italy, Piemonte is home to some of the country's finest cuisine and cheese and truffles are frequently included in special meals. This precious cheese brings them together in one harmonious bite.

Made by La Bottera in the town of Marozzo, this artisan cheese is made with a blend of goat's milk and cow's milk from the family-run farm. They specialize in regional classics and are known for their delicate fresh cheeses.

The aging process is most important and occurs in a cool cantina where the ideal temperature remains constant and is maintained by thick stone walls rather than electrical fans. During the aging process, the distinct aroma of the truffles emerges and only when the cheese is fully infused with this scent is it ready.

Soft blue cheese aged in Raboso Passito IGT wine and cranberries.
Intense and unique flavor, balanced by the sweet notes of passito wine.
-First-place winner at the competition ALMA CASEUS 2012 in the category 'Blue cheeses'
-Degree of Excellence released by Slow Food and Onaf at the competition 'Infiniti Blu  2013'.

“This soft, cows’ milk blue from La Casearia Carpenedo, based near Treviso in Italy, was a revelation to me when I first tried it. It’s aged for 60 days before being matured in red wine, and is packed with rich flavours and character”.

Basajo would be a compelling cheese even if it didn't have such an engaging backstory. But the history behind this luscious wine-soaked blue adds to its allure, and its compatibility with silky dessert wines makes an even stronger case for a holiday splurge.

Made with raw sheep's milk from Italy's Veneto region, Basajo (ba-SAH-yo) is a new creation. But it emerges from a long tradition of aging wheels in grape must.

Who can know when and where this technique originated? La Casearia, the Italian company that matures Basajo and several other well-known "drunken" cheeses, such as Ubriaco, promotes one theory, which - surprise - ties the technique to the Veneto. I'm inclined to think the method of must-aging has deeper and broader roots than the La Casearia tale suggests, but here goes:

At the end of World War I, when the battle was raging in the Veneto, locals faced dire food shortages. Not only did they struggle to feed themselves, but they were expected to provide for the soldiers, too. Some ingenious farmer in the province of Treviso, hoping to hide a few cheeses, thought to bury the wheels in barrels of fermenting grape must. The wheels not only escaped discovery; they got even better.

Latteria Perenzin, the small, 4th generation, family owned and operated company situated in the quaint village of San Pietro di Feletto in the Veneto, is world renown for their award-winning, artisanal cheeses.

Carlo Piccoli is not only co-owner of Latteria Perenzin with wife, Emanuela Perenzin (great-granddaughter of founder, Domenico Perezin), but he is also the master cheesemaker, with over 25 years of expansive experience. Every cheese made at Perenzin has been guided by Carlo Piccoli’s hands-on philosophy of finding the perfect balance between ancient tradition and modern innovation. San Pietro in Beeswax exemplifies the care, precision and patience fostered at Perenzin.

The cheese starts with 100% locally sourced cow’s milk-- very typical of the Veneto region. Inspired by an ancient preservation method, San Pietro is coated with natural beeswax early in the cheese-making process. The beeswax serves to protect the interior, but also imparts a lovely honeyed-beeswax taste and aroma into the nuttiness of the semi-hard, compact paste. Aged for at least 12Months, San Pietro in Beeswax takes on a velvety mouth-feel, usually not accomplished in aged cheeses, giving the overall eating experience a delicate, refined flavor that is also overtly inviting.

Look out for this distinctive saffron colored, sweetly perfumed rind, because in the business of bee’s wax, Perezin’s San Pietro is an absolutely delightful practice.

Montasio is a creamy, unpasteurised cow’s milk cheese originating from the Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto provinces of Italy.

Awarded (PDO) protected designation of origin in 1986, this cheese is sold fresh, middle and aged depending on the aging time of 60 days up to 1 year. It was originally a monastery cheese but today it is produced only in a specific region of Italy following age-old traditional methods.

Fresh Montasio or Montasio Fresco, aged between 60 and 120 days is soft, smooth and elastic with a mild creamy flavour. It has the characteristic “eyes” but not too many of them spread evenly throughout the cheese. The fresco variety reveals a harmonious, mild flavour heightened by the pleasant aroma.

Ubriaco Prosecco is a traditional, Italian cheese made in northern Italy’s Veneto region. Affectionately called "drunken cheese", it is bathed in gallons of dry and sparkling Prosecco wine along with skins, seeds, and leftovers from the wine making process  to extract the unique sweet, delicate aroma of the wine and complex flavours.

An unpasteurized cow’s milk cheese, Ubriaco is matured for a minimum of 2 months but rarely for over a year. Upon maturity, it develops a soft and supple texture, which ages to become firmer and crumbly, similar to a Parmigianino. Seasonally produced, the best season to avail the cheese is from late fall through early summer. The cheese has a flowery aroma and smells of heavenly Prosecco wine. It is best served in crumbles or shavings with a glass of Prosecco or any aged, red wine.

Pecorino Foglie di Noce, literally translated as Pecorino Aged in Walnut Leaves is a fabulous cheese that comes from Emilia Romagna in Italy.

Wrapped in fresh green walnut leaves, this Pecorino cheese is aged for months in ventilated caves. It is rubbed daily with olive oil, to yield a subtle earthiness and herbaceousness to the cheese. When they are removed from the caves, the mottled cheese wheels reveal the aroma of walnut leaves. The taste of the compact and dense dough is now sweet and intense, becoming rich and buttery with intense ageing. It pairs nicely with Nero d’Avola, Sauvignon Blancs or any Italian red or dry white wines. In the kitchen, this cheese tastes wonderful with artichokes and raw vegetables.